Unity and the Escaped Rodent of Azkaban
by Lady Sabine of Macayhill
Summary: AU. Sequal to Unity and the Book of Possession. Unity starts out with a pleasant summer, but news of Wormtail's escape from Azkaban ruins things. The group then starts their third and second years at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer for entire fic: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K. Rowling and I am merely playing with her world.

This fic is dedicated to all the people that read and/or reviewed my previous two fics in this series.

The first half of the summer holidays passed rather pleasantly. Since James really didn't want to keep his disguise on the entire summer, he decided to let Dobby in on the secret. The house-elf was very awed to discover that James Lydell-Black was really Harry Potter, and after his initial shock, promised to keep it a secret. He then settled comfortably to his duties in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and kept Kreacher in line.

Mr. Weasley won the _Daily Prophet_ Galleon Draw, amounting to seven hundred Galleons, and used most of it on a trip to Egypt to visit Bill for his family (though some was saved to pay for school supplies for his children). Hermione and Kyle went on a holiday to France with their parents, and Mari went with her relatives on a trip to Japan. Su and Wen-Jing went to visit relatives in China, Luna and her father on a trip to Sweden to search for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and several other members of Unity left Britain for their holidays as well.

Since James wanted to see Japan with Mari, Sirius and Remus took him, Stuart, and Stella there for their holiday. James stayed in his natural self, except for his scar, which remained on his back, since it was very unlikely that anybody would recognize him as Harry Potter without it on his forehead. They first went to Tokyo, where they were given a tour of the Japanese Ministry of Magic and introduced to Reiko Kishi, Minister for Magic. She was thirty-years old, but looked five years younger, despite a few lines around her eyes, and was nice. She spoke English with very little trace of an accent and actually conducted part of the tour herself.

One of her personal staff was introduced as a werewolf, to Remus's delight, and Minister Kishi said, "Unlike Britain, the wizarding community of Japan does not have any prejudices against werewolves. Though we don't have very many here. We have far more kitsunes and a version of vampires in Japan." Seeing James's puzzled look, she added, "Kitsunes are a magical being that can take human form or fox form. Like a werewolf, except that they can change at will and aren't dangerous, though they can be rather tricky."

Remus then revealed that he was a werewolf. Minister Kishi raised a brow. "And I suppose the British Ministry makes things rather difficult for you to find employment, Mr. Lupin. Well, if should ever need a job and don't mind moving to Japan, I'm sure a position can be found for you here. In the meantime, some pressure can be put on the British Ministry to pass laws making things easier for werewolves if they wish to have good relations with Japan."

James, who found the prejudice against werewolves in Britain quite unfair, was happy to hear that things were different in Japan. Spotting his happy expression, Minister Kishi continued, "That's not to say that everyone in Japan likes werewolves. As a whole, the wizarding community isn't prejudiced, but there are a few individual witches and wizards who merely tolerate their existence or don't care for them at all."

In the evening, the group had a private dinner with the Minister. The Hirashis and Mari wore traditional Japanese dress, and James was quite surprised to see that Stella wore a kimono as well, a gift from Mrs. Hirashi. She looked quite pretty in the beautiful pale green silk kimono with a pattern of cherry blossoms and cream-colored underrobe and her strawberry blonde hair was done up in a Japanese style. Her face wasn't made up in the style of geishas that James had once seen a picture of in a book, but she did have on some powder which made it pale and red lipstick. If it weren't for her hair color and eyes, she could have passed as Japanese, though she could have passed as a kitsune, since they often had red hair.

Mari wore a blue silk kimono, had a similar hairstyle to Stella's, and didn't wear any make-up. James was struck by how lovely she was. He knew vaguely that his friend wasn't plain, and was in fact rather pretty, but he had never thought much about it. Seeing her in traditional Japanese garb, plus the fact that he was now noticing girls in a new light, made him see her differently. He quickly banished such thoughts from his head, for Mari was his best friend and like a sister and not someone he should consider dating. However, that didn't stop him from thinking of the five other Asian girls he knew (Su Li, Cho Chang, Parvati and Padma Patil, and Mari's cousin Sakura), and realizing that they were all very pretty as well. All right, Parvati and Padma weren't exactly like Su, Cho, and Sakura, but they were of Indian descent, and India was a part of Asia.

The dinner was all Japanese food, and delicious. James was a bit hesitant about eating raw fish, but after his first taste of sushi, discovered that it was actually quite good, and ate more of it, enjoying it immensely. Sirius was also hesitant, but after seeing how much James enjoyed it, had some sushi and ended up liking it too. He also appeared to show some attraction to the Minister, who was smart, rather pretty, and only three years younger than him, but was very careful not to do or say anything that would offend her.

After dinner, Minister Kishi took James aside privately. "You are a very special young man, aren't you?" Seeing his startled look, she explained, "I have some kitsune blood."

"What do you mean by 'special', Minister Kishi?" he asked cautiously.

"Even without your scar, which I suspect that you have covered up in some way, I can guess who you really are, James-san," she said with a wry smile. "Since kitsunes can detect magic somewhat, and I sense no Glamour Charms or any other spells on you, and you aren't taking potions, I surmise that you are a, what's the term, yes, a Metamorphmagus."

"What are you going to do with that information?" he asked nervously. "And who else has figured it out?"

"Nobody other than my very trusted and most important advisor, who is of mixed kitsune, wizard, and vampire blood and knows when to keep a secret. She will not betray you, and I will certainly not broadcast where Harry Potter is or whom he is masquerading as. I don't think you want people fussing over you because of your fame, since you are disguised. Since you are one of Mari-chan's two best friends, and I like you for you and not as the famous Harry Potter, I would like to offer my support. Not everyone in Britain's magical community is to my liking. Other than most of the teachers at Hogwarts, some people in your Ministry like Madam Bones and Mr. Weasley, the members of Unity, your adopted siblings, and your guardians, I don't particularly care for the witches and wizards in Britain that I know or am aware of. Others too easily sway your current Minister. While I do not object to Albus Dumbledore taking a hand in things, as he is very capable and does things for good, people like Lucius Malfoy worry me. From what Tomi and Yuki told me, he is one of those purebloods that look down on Muggleborns and halfbloods, and uses his money to influence the British Minister into doing things his way. Guidance and advice is perfectly fine, since I had some when I first became Minister, but I never let myself become anyone's puppet or be used by anyone, despite my young age."

"Thank you, Minister Kishi, and I accept your support, though I don't know if I will ever need to use it."

Minister Kishi simply raised a brow. "Ever since Japan decided to open up to the West and allow modernization, we have paid attention to world events. We might not have had any Dark Lords, unless you count the wizard and some of his followers who supported the actions of some of the Muggle leaders of Japan during the Second World War, but we have noticed when other countries have them and study them. That way we can prevent one from appearing in our country. This Voldemort came to our attention twenty-some years ago and our Ministry did some discreet research into him. While I cannot tell you of his methods, I can tell you that we have found out that he carried out a plan to prevent him from dying and succeeded."

"So that's why he didn't die when I defeated him as a baby," muttered James. "He just lost his proper body and much of his powers and is looking for a way to return to power."

"If he should ever return, I promise to offer what aid I can, James," said Minister Kishi firmly. "I don't have anything more to discuss with you right now, so you can go. You may inform your guardians, siblings, and friends that I am aware of whom you really are and that I have offered my help, but please don't say anything else."

"Thank you, Minister Kishi, and I will," said James with a smile. He definitely liked her better than Minister Fudge. She was a strong and very intelligent woman, did not let herself be controlled or pushed around by anyone, was open-minded, and didn't seem to care about appearances or making sure that she remained in office.

After three days in Tokyo, there was a trip to Mount Fuji, followed by three weeks in the countryside and a couple of other cities. James found out that there were exactly one hundred twenty wizarding families that were originally pureblood, but now each family only had one branch that could be considered 'pure.' He was puzzled as to how that could be until Mari explained, "Look, Aunt Yuki and Uncle Tomi are the branch of the Hirashi family that's pure. Ichirou has decided that he wants to be the one to keep the branch pure, so when he's older, he will court the girls his age or a couple years younger of other pureblood branches that aren't closely related to us. The one he falls in love with and vice versa he will marry, and the pureblood branch will continue. Ry can go off and marry a Muggleborn or halfblood witch, and so that branch of the Hirashi family will stop being pureblood. Well, unless he falls in love with a pureblood witch and marries her. If that happens, then he can carry on the branch of the family that's pureblood, and Ichirou won't have to limit himself to purebloods."

Well, it was better than Britain, where certain families like the Malfoys and Blacks insisted on having all members marry other purebloods, or be disowned, and not just any pureblood either. They had to come from respectable families, and not be considered blood traitors, as in the case of Cedrella Black, one of Sirius's relatives. She had been disowned for marrying a Weasley, who while came from a pureblood family, was one that was considered a blood traitor, and rather poor monetarily.

When July came to a close, Mari stayed with her relatives while the others went on to China. They figured that while they were in Asia, they might as well also visit China, and James did want to see Su and Wen-Jing and meet their family. The only bad part was that it got very hot during the summer, especially in the southern part.

The first week they toured the capital city of Beijing, visiting Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City where the Imperial families used the live, and part of Chinese Ministry if Magic, as Su had an uncle who worked there, though he wasn't very high up. During that week they also went to the Great Wall. James didn't enjoy it as much as he thought he would because of the heat. Still, it was very impressive.

James enjoyed the play he saw, though, which was based on the Chinese legend of Sun Wu Kong, or the Monkey King. Apparently the Monkey King had burst out of a stone one day and became the king of the monkeys when he braved and survived a dangerous waterfall. He then left to study under a teacher who taught him the seventy-two earthly transformations. After some adventures, he ended up in the Chinese version of Heaven, where he stole the peaches of long life, which made him immortal. Finally his antics got to be too much for the 'gods' and 'goddesses' up in Heaven and Buddha was asked to trap him, which He succeeded. After numerous years, Sun Wu Kong was set free and allowed to redeem himself by escorting a Buddhist monk (though he really was more than just an ordinary monk) on his trip to the West with two other companions. (Names translated to Pigsy and Sandy in English.)

After seeing the play, Su bought a English Translation of the book _Journey to the West_, which contained the entire story of Sun Wu Kong, and gave it to James. He started reading the second he found some free time and had to stifle laughter at something Su's five-year old cousin asked while he was reading. He couldn't understand Chinese, of course, but Su translated, and what her cousin asked was where babies came from. The traditional reply in English-speaking countries was 'the stork brought you', though James had also heard of the 'being found in a cabbage or parsley patch' excuse, 'the doctor brought you in his or her black bag', or 'going to the hospital to get you'. However, Su's cousin was told 'you burst out of a stone like Sun Wu Kong'" which seemed to be the common Chinese answer to the 'where babies come from' question asked by young kids.

After the week in Beijing, they went to a dragon preserve, where a cousin of Su's father worked. James saw some Chinese Fireballs at a safe distance, plus a few other varieties, though no Norwegian Ridgebacks. Not that he minded, since he'd had his fill of them when Hagrid had hatched Norbert.

After the day there, the group headed for Shanghai, with some stops along the way in the countryside to visit tourist spots like pagodas and temples. It was during this journey that bad news reached them. A letter from Neville finally arrived, thanking James, Su, and Wen-Jing for their birthday gifts to him, and added an article from the _Daily Prophet_. The article was about the escape of Peter Pettigrew from Azkaban, presumably in his Animagus from. There was a spell on his cell to keep him from escaping, but it had to be renewed every year. Apparently the two Aurors assigned to do it this year had thought the other had done it and so the spell wasn't renewed. While Dawlish and Sanders weren't fired, they had been suspended with no pay for two months, and had to each pay a one thousand Galleon fine for their negligence.

Sirius and Remus cursed when they read the article, and would have refused to sign the permission form for James to visit Hogsmeade until Stuart pointed out that Wormtail had no idea who Harry Potter was masquerading as and James said he would be with his friends and would never walk around alone. Sirius gave in, but Remus said he would take the Defense post that Dumbledore had offered him just to keep an eye on things. Snape would brew the Wolfsbane Potion and Sirius would take over as substitute teacher during the full moons.

After the three weeks in China, they returned to Britain. Stuart had been named Quidditch captain for Ravenclaw, which he liked better than being made prefect. The ones in Unity that had been away on holiday returned around the same time as well. Ron was incredibly freckled and Kyle and Hermione were very brown. Luna hadn't been affected by her trip to Sweden, other than being disappointed at not finding any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks.

All of Unity showed varying degrees of consternation at Wormtail's escape and weren't happy to hear that Dementors were being stationed at Hogwarts. They all resolved to learn the Patronus Charm so they could defend themselves against a Dementor if need be, and James promised that he would ask Remus for guidance with it.

After that, the group got ready for their return to Hogwarts, wondering what their year would be like and the new third-year members eager to start the new classes they had signed up for. James had signed up for Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Arithmancy, and hoped that they would be as interesting as they sounded.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: In the previous chapter, when I wrote that there was a spell on the cell to keep Wormtail from escaping, that was a mistake. I meant to write that there was a spell on the cell to keep him from transforming.

The train-ride back to Hogwarts started out uneventfully. Unity took their usual compartment at the end of the train and began debating whether or not they should have the new students join the group. The second-years didn't mind, and rather liked the idea, but many of the third-years were hesitant about having students two years below them be in the group.

An hour after the food trolley had come by, Unity had come to a compromise. New students could join, but they wouldn't be privy to certain secrets and would have their own charter. The third-year members would offer them guidance and help with schoolwork, but otherwise wouldn't spend too much time with them, while the second-years could interact with them all they wanted as long as they didn't reveal secrets that weren't supposed to be told.

The main one was James's real identity, for he had revealed it to the new second-years at the end of the previous year. Bianca and Luna had already guessed it, so weren't surprised by the revelation. The rest had been in various degrees of surprise and shock. Ginny had harbored a crush on the Boy-Who-Lived ever since she had heard the story of him and how he'd defeated Voldemort, but it didn't manifest once she learned that James was really Harry Potter. She had gotten to know the real him under a different name, and while she liked him, it was only as a good friend. James was relieved about it, since he only liked Ginny as a friend also, though he admitted that she was beautiful and would make a good girlfriend to some lucky boy one day.

In any case, he had no intention to let anyone else know who he really was, unless he decided to let the wizarding world know at large someday. It was enough that the current members of Unity, his guardians, adopted siblings, Snape, Fred and George, Dobby, Minister Kishi, and her most trusted advisor were in on the secret. They were discreet and trusted, but not everyone was, and James had a feeling that if he let more than those sixty-two know, things would get out of hand. He might as well let the entire wizarding world know at that point. Though he supposed he could put his secret under the Fidelius Charm, with him as Secret-Keeper.

After the decision, James lent Hermione _Journey to the West_, for she had expressed a desire to read it, and Unity split up into smaller groups to read or play Exploding Snape or chess. Bianca, who looked tired, elected not to take part in anything, and instead took a seat in a corner and promptly fell asleep. Mari gave her a sharp look, recalling that there had been times when Bianca had looked tired before, plus days when she was absent because she was sick. A suspicion was forming in Mari's mind about this, but she kept it to herself and wouldn't say anything about it until Bianca brought it up.

Awhile later, they discussed the Dementors that were being stationed at Hogwarts and what Remus had told James about the Patronus Charm, which would also be effective against Lethifolds. None of them liked having Dementors around, though they had never encountered one before and only read about them. James knew that they sucked happiness and left only bad thoughts and memories, which he didn't have much of. The only bad or unhappy moments in his life he could remember was how he felt when Colin, Justin, Hermione, and Millicent were Petrified, when Kyle left because he'd been adopted, and being teased until Stuart had put a stop to it.

After an hour and the topic of conversation turning to their new classes, it started raining outside. Remus, who had decided to ride the Hogwarts Express instead of Apparating to Hogsmeade and walking up to the school or Flooing directly there, came by for a couple of minutes to see how things were. He looked tired, for the previous night had been a full moon, and it was clear that he had been sleeping for much of the journey. Kyle, Mari, and Ry, the only ones in Unity besides James that knew about his lycanthropy, asked if he was all right.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired," Remus replied. "Your sister is in the compartment I'm in, Ry, along with a couple of other first-years that she's becoming friends with. She's telling them about Unity and the whole inter-house cooperation and they seem interested. Sakura was also kind enough to set aside some food she bought from the trolley and gave it to me when I woke up from my nap a few minutes ago. I hope you'll let the new first-years join Unity, even if they're kept a bit separate from you guys and don't do everything that you have planned."

"Don't worry, we've decided to let them join," Mari hastened to assure him. "Though they are going to be somewhat separate." She didn't mention that Sakura, plus Lisa's brother Leon, was the main reason they had decided on letting the new students join Unity. She supposed that they would still allow new members next year, for Colin had a younger brother named Dennis who had also shown signs of being a wizard and would start Hogwarts then.

When it grew dark, the train suddenly slowed down. At first James assumed that they were almost there, but then realized it wasn't the case. Unity became very nervous, especially when all the lights went out and the train came to a complete stop. They started talking in panicked voices, wondering what was going on and why the train had stopped.

Then the door to their compartment opened and James caught sight of a skeletal hand and what looked like dark cloaks or robes. Then he heard screaming and a woman's voice plead, "No, not Harry!" It sounded exactly like the voice he had heard in the dreams he had a couple times before that he guessed was of his parents' deaths.

The next thing he knew, he was on the floor, the lights back on, someone lightly slapping him on the face and the concerned members of Unity and Remus gathered around him, Bianca, and another second-year member and Hufflepuff named Walter Lloyd. Walter was whimpering and muttering something about his father. "You fainted, James," said Kyle, eyes wide with fear. "You and Bianca both. And Walter went into hysterics and started screaming about how he'd be good and for his father to stop hurting him."

"What was that? A Dementor?" James asked, face pale and shaking. Remus nodded and handed him some chocolate. He took it, but didn't eat any, instead looking at Walter and feeling even worse as what Kyle said about the younger boy's reaction to the Dementor sunk in.

Meanwhile, Remus had handed Bianca some chocolate and was whispering something in her ear that caused her to look at him in surprise, then visibly calm down. He then turned to Walter and began trying to soothe him. While he did take a bite of the chocolate given to him, tears flowed down his face and he wouldn't look at anyone. Finally he wiped his eyes and said in a hollow voice, "My parents are Muggles. Dad was fine at first, but then he started drinking when I was around six. Whenever he got drunk, he'd hit me or Mum, and it didn't help things when I did accidental magic. It just made him even madder. Finally Mum had enough and divorced him when I was nine. I haven't seen Dad since and mostly recovered from what he did, but that D-Dementor made all the horrible memories return."

Nobody said anything for several seconds, for none of them had ever gone through what Walter did, and any books they might have read that had mentioned child abuse or neglect, such as _Oliver Twist_, wasn't much in helping them understand. Finally his best friends Colin Creevy of Gryffindor and Ryan O'Conner of Ravenclaw took him off to one side to talk to him and help him recover. Remus turned back to James and said, "I want you to eat that chocolate. It'll help. And the rest of you, have some chocolate too. I need to speak with the driver now."

Once he had left, Bianca stood up. "I'm a werewolf," she said bluntly. "I was bitten when I was ten. Somehow a werewolf ended up near my home one full moon and I was outside gathering some plants that need to picked in moonlight if they're to be the most effective when used in certain potions. If any of you don't want to be friends anymore because of what I am, I understand, but I ask that you keep it a secret and not spread it around. And that is why I fainted. I was remembering my transformations, even if the Wolfsbane Potion has been invented and made things easier for werewolves when they transform. Oh, and Luna already knows."

There was utter silence for minute, with Walter stopping his crying long enough to gape at Bianca in shock. Finally Theodore broke the silence. "I don't care if you are one, Bianca. You're nice, and the Wolfsbane Potion keeps you from becoming a total monster one night a month. And if anyone here doesn't accept you, they can leave Unity as far as I'm concerned."

To James's utter relief, everyone else in Unity accepted Bianca as well and had no problem with her being a werewolf. Astoria also pointed out that their charter said that all members would be accepted without prejudice and since they had all agreed to it by signing their names, they could hardly turn their backs on Bianca now.

Everyone then had some chocolate and many of the members began talking about how the Dementor had affected them and how Remus, or rather Professor Lupin, had shown up and driven it away with his Patronus. An hour after that, the Hogwarts Express arrived at the station and everyone got off. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were waiting in the Entrance Hall and took James, Hermione, Bianca, and Walter aside. Hermione went to speak with McGonagall privately and returned minutes later, looking pleased about something. Flitwick and Sprout asked James, Bianca, and Walter if they were all right and had Madam Pomfrey give them a quick look-over. The three refused to spend the night in the Hospital Wing, and informed her that they had already eaten chocolate on Professor Lupin's orders. She was pleased to finally have a Defense teacher that knew his remedies and dismissed them.

The four then went to the Great Hall to find Snape taking out the Sorting Hat and stool, the Sorting having just finished. Sakura was sitting happily at the Hufflepuff table with one of the girls that had been in her compartment and Lisa's brother Leon was in Ravenclaw. Professor Dumbledore stood up, warning everyone about the Dementors and introducing Remus as the new Defense teacher and Hagrid taking over the Care of Magical Creatures post as the previous one, Professor Kettleburn, had decided to retire. Unity clapped loudly at both introductions, and James understood why _Monster Book of Monsters_, which couldn't be opened without attacking unless the spine was stroked, had been assigned. The only reason Unity knew how the open the books was due to Remus telling James, who in turn told the rest of the third-year members.

After the announcements, the feast was served. James focused his attention on his food, though a tiny part of his mind wondered if anyone else in Unity had secrets that would eventually be revealed and was amazed that he had subconcious memories of his parents' deaths that was brought forward by Dementors.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thanks goes to Lientjuhh, who suggested that James drop Divination after the first class and switch to Ancient Runes. I actually already was thinking about doing it, but the suggestion made up my mind for me. Sorry that it took awhile to update. I was busy the past couple of weeks.

The next morning was bright and sunny. James ate his breakfast, looked over his schedule, and then headed for his first class, Arithmancy. Hermione, Mari, the other Ravenclaws in Unity except for Morag and Michael, Ry, Claire Harper, Hannah, Tracey, and Blaise were in his class. Professor Vector was the teacher and she did a very good job as she went over the class and began explaining the basics. Hermione, who was very good at logic and numbers, appeared to love the class, and when it was dismissed, James heard her mutter, "That was a much better class than Divination."

He gave her an odd look, for she wouldn't have taken Divination yet and should have no idea what the class was like. "What are you talking about, Hermione?"

She ignored the question, saying, "Sorry, but I must hurry to Muggle Studies, James." He shook her head and went looking for the North Tower, for his Divination class was next. It took a few minutes, but James and the other Ravenclaws that were taking Divination finally found the classroom. Professor Trelawney had on glasses that magnified her eyes, several necklaces, and wore a filmy shawl over her robes. She looked like a large insect with an aura of dottiness that was nothing like Luna's. The class also turned out to be something of a joke, for the teacher appeared to be mostly a fraud with only a shred of real talent. She seemed to prefer dismal predications over happy ones, and had a thing for death omens.

The class started out by doing tea leaves, and when Professor Trelawney looked at James's cup, she said that she saw a falcon, which meant he had an enemy, a club, which meant an attack, and a skull, which meant he had danger in his path. He rolled his eyes at this and only conceded that she might have a point about the falcon, for Voldemort would be his enemy. He jumped when Professor Trelawney let out a scream and stared up at her. When she explained that she saw the Grim, he couldn't help laughing.

"That's not the Grim, that's probably my guardian's Animagus form, which is a large black dog!" James exclaimed. "Which means I'll probably be seeing Sirius soon."

When class ended, he had decided that it was a joke and during lunch, found Professor Flitwick and arranged to drop Divination and replace it with Ancient Runes. Fortunately the first class for the third-years didn't start until tomorrow, so he wouldn't have missed anything. Padma and Anthony also dropped the class and they replaced it with Care of Magical Creatures,

After lunch was Transfiguration, where the lesson was on Animagi. Professor McGonagall demonstrated her Animagus form of a tabby cat. James paid close attention, for his father and godfather were Animagi, though he wasn't sure if he wanted to learn to become one. It was rather difficult to master the transformation, and not everyone could manage it.

Unity met after the last class of the day, where the indignant members of the group that were in Gryffindor and Slytherin reported what had gone on during their Care of Magical Creatures class. Hagrid had shown hippogriffs, which were rather nice and handsome creatures, who wouldn't hurt anyone unless they were insulted. Ry was brave enough to volunteer to approach a hippogriff named Buckbeak, and after bowing to him and receiving a bow in return, was allowed to fly on his back. Ry hadn't really cared for the experience, preferring a broom, but it did prove to the rest of the class that there was nothing to be really scared of. However, Malfoy and Pansy hadn't looked happy, and it was clear that they wanted to ruin things for Hagrid. Malfoy hadn't also been paying close attention, for he insulted Buckbeak and ended up being slashed in the arm. He made a big fuss about dying and was hurried off to the Hospital Wing. Everyone in the class was angry at him, other than Pansy, though Vince and Greg were the only ones that weren't vocal about it.

"Malfoy won't try to get Hagrid in trouble about it?" asked Hannah worriedly.

"Well, a bunch of us were there and saw exactly what happened," pointed out Ry. "We can testify to the fact that Malfoy wasn't paying attention and insulted Buckbeak after Hagrid had told us that hippogriffs were proud creatures and that it wasn't wise to insult them. If I have to, I can use my connections, though I'd prefer not to."

Then the matter of how Hermione was doing several subjects at once was brought up. Apparently Neville had noticed that her schedule had said that she was doing Divination, Muggle Studies, and Arithmancy at nine o'clock that morning. When the other Gryffindors said they'd seen her in Divination, James and most of the other Ravenclaws in Arithmancy, and Ernie, Morag, Daphne, Theo, and Susan in Muggle Studies, they rounded on her. "How can you be in three places at once, Hermione?" demanded Ron.

"I can't tell you," protested Hermione in reply. "I promised McGonagall I wouldn't."

Bianca rolled her eyes. "She's using a Time Turner, of course. That's the only way she can be in more than one place at the same time." After she explained what a Time-Turner was for the ones that didn't know, she continued, "I am a little surprised that you were given one, Hermione. But then again, you are a model student, and Professor McGonagall would have vouched for you."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, but please just keep it quiet among us. Nobody else is really supposed to know."

At dinner, Dumbledore made an annoucement. Apparently Minister Kishi wanted to further friendly relations with Britain, and the Japanese school of magic had decided to take part in it by setting up an exchange program. Everything had been finalized this morning, and in two weeks time, several students, in third year to sixth year, would be coming from Japan with three staff members. They would be Sorted into the four houses for the year, and Dumbledore asked that everyone make the exchange students feel welcome. However, no Hogwarts students would be going to Japan, for none of them could speak, read, or write Japanese, other than the few of Japanese descent. There was a translation spell that enabled people to hear conversation in the language they were most familiar with, but so far there was none that did the same with writing.

A number of students were very interested at this news and began chattering excitedly. Unity wondered how the exchange students would do at Hogwarts and decided to befriend any third-years that came.


	4. Chapter 4

Thankfully there were no reprecussions from Buckbeak attacking Malfoy, other than a warning for Hagrid to keep a closer eye on his classes and that he should have saved hippogriffs for later. This resulted in him showing flobberworms, which were the most boring creatures in existance, for his Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff third-year class. Malfoy was distinctly grumpy at being thwarted in trying to get Hagrid in trouble, and was rather rude to any members of Unity he ran into.

Finally Ry lost patience and snapped, "You need a good dose of manners, Draco Malfoy. If this were Japan, your behavior would not be tolerated at all. The teachers would reprimand you and the Headmaster or mistress would have a discussion with you and your parents. If you insisted on keeping it up, no doubt you'd eventually be made _ronin_. In other words, an outcast of society. The wizarding world would not acknowledge you at all, except the Ministry if you did something to catch their attention, and you would be forced to live in the Muggle world."

With that, Ry strode off before Malfoy could think of a comeback. Later, Ry explained to the rest of Unity something of Japanese culture. Displays of great emotion were frowned upon, though it could be overlooked among close friends or family in private. Children had to be polite to their elders, as well as those that were more than two or three years older than them. If someone did something considered rude or socially unacceptable, he or she had to apologize. Unlike Hogwarts, where teachers often turned a blind eye to disputes between students as long as it didn't involve rule-breaking that came to their attention, in Japan, teachers kept a close eye on things and made sure they didn't get out of hand. If someone truly would not conform to Japanese wizarding society, such as showing signs of becoming a dark lord or lady, despite all efforts otherwise, than he or she would be made an outcast, or ronin. The wizarding world would have nothing more to do with ronin, beyond seeing to it that they were given the means of bare survival in the Muggle world.

Everyone else was startled by this, until Ry pointed out that it had been more conservative two hundred years ago. It was only when Japan had started opening up to Western society that the culture became more liberal, though the wizarding society wasn't like the Muggle one. "So when the exchange students come, don't be surprised if they seem extremely formal and polite. It's just the way they've been brought up. Be polite back, but don't worry about being exactly like them. All wizarding students in Japan have to take a class on wizarding society in other countries, and so they understand that other people from other countries won't behave exactly like them." The rest of Unity kept Ry's advice in mind.

Classes continued and were quite interesting. James had some trouble at first with Ancient Runes, since he couldn't keep all the runes he learned straight. Some were similiar that he kept mixing up, but with some help from Hermione and Mari, he was able to finally to distinguish between them. Defense Against Dark Arts was extremely interesting now that they had a compentent teacher. The first class, Remus, or rather Professor Lupin, taught about boggarts, and had them face off against a boggart that had moved into a wardrobe in the staff room. Neville's worst fear was Peter Pettigrew, and he forced the boggart-Wormtail into his grandmother's clothes as a way to make it funny. Everyone had a good laugh at that.

James did not get a chance to face the boggart at all, for Lupin figured that his worst fear would either be Voldemort or a dementor and the other students didn't need to deal with boggart versions of either one showing up in the staff room. Mari, however, had a horrible time with the boggart. When it was her turn, the boggart turned into James, who was struck by a green light that was the Killing Curse and fell down dead. It then turned into Kyle, who also fell dead. "R-R-Riddikulus!" stammered Mari, eyes wide. All that happened was the boggart turning into a dead Hermione and then a dead Ron. As it turned to a dead Neville, Mari tried again to fight the boggart, but she mispronounced the spell and it turned into a dead Daphne. That was quickly followed by the bodies of Ry, Tracey, and Susan, all dead. Remus stepped in and took care of the boggart, or it would have probably turned into the rest of Unity, dead.

At that point, Mari burst into tears and fled the staff room. Class was immediately dismissed, with the homework being to read the chapter on boggarts and summarising it. Unity paid little attention to this, simply grabbing their bags and chasing after Mari. They found her in the Room of Requirement and spent the next half hour comforting her, promising that they'd do their best to not get themselves killed. She finally calmed down and remarked wryly, "It's a good thing I'm not in Japan, or I'd be an utter disgrace for breaking down like that."

"In a situation like that, I think your display of emotion would be forgiven, Mari," said Ry. "I'd probably react the same way if my worst fear was like yours. Of course, I've also spent the past two years in Britain, where I've picked up Western habits. And you've been raised in England your whole life, so you've never had to, or learned to, act like a Japanese witch."

Later Defense classes had no such scenes, but were still very interesting. After boggarts they moved on to Red Caps and then Kappas, and it appeared that they would be spending the year learning about Dark creatures and how to defend against them.

On the second Saturday of the month, the exchange students and their three teachers arrived. The twenty-eight students, from third to seventh year, wore robes that were almost identical to the Hogwarts robes, except that they were midnight blue instead of black and had a sash around the waist, not unlike an _obi_ of a kimono, only narrower. Their wands were tucked in the sashes, and several of the girls also had fans. One of their teachers called them up alphabetically for the Sorting. Each student put on the Hat and then went to the table of whatever house they were Sorted into. Eleven were in Ravenclaw, nine in Hufflepuff, five in Gryffindor, and three in Slytherin.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and welcomed the exchange students, giving a standard Japanese greeting before switching to English. James didn't understand a single thing, besides 'konnichiwa' for 'hello', since the only Japanese he knew were that and "sayonara", which meant 'good-bye', "sensei" and "oji-san", which were 'teacher' and 'grandfather", a couple of swear words he'd learned from Ry, and the names of some weapons, which he learned from the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. Oh, and ooba-san for 'grandmother'.

After the welcoming speech, dinner was served. James noticed that there were several Japanese dishes, with two platters of sushi and at least half of the rest were fish-based, on the table, and surmised the other house tables must also have some Japanese dishes as well. He then noticed that there was also a pot of rice, since Asians cultures, or the ones he'd been to at any rate, tended to eat it often. If they didn't eat rice, then it was normally noodles, and he recalled that people in China, mainly the northern part, also ate something that Su had called _man tou_, which was essentially a kind of white bun that tasted rather bland, like ordinary bread, but was chewier.

James had filled his plate, most of it British food, plus two pieces of sush, and was just starting to eat, when one of the exchange students caught his attention. She was a very pretty girl with red hair, but otherwise looked Japanese. "You are James Lydell, are you not?" she asked in accented English. "A friend of the, what is the word, cousin of Minister Kishi that visited Japan during the summer? I am Satou Ke- pardon, I mean Keiko Satou. Forgive me, but in Japan, and also China, the surname is said first when introducing yourself. My aunt works in the Japanese Ministry, under Minister Kishi, and mentioned you. I am half-kitsune, which is why I have red hair and not black."

"What's a kitsune?" asked Terry, who had overheard Keiko.

"A kitsune is one of the fox-people," answered Keiko. "Kitsunes can take either human form or fox form, and we normally have red hair as humans unless we are hiding, pardon, I mean disguising, ourselves. I apologize for any mistakes I make. I am not fluent in English the way someone who was raised to speak English is, so I will sometimes use the wrong word, cannot think of the word, or say it wrong."

"That's all right, Keiko," said Mandy with a friendly smile. "Your English is very good already and we can help you improve it if you want. I'm Mandy Brocklehurst, by the way. What year are you in?"

"Third year," replied Keiko, returning the smile.

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Mandy. "I'm in third-year too, and so is James." She then proceeded to introduce the other third-year Ravenclaws, even Kevin Entwhistle, who while was a fairly nice boy, wasn't in Unity, but did hang out a great deal with Stephen Cornfoot and Zacharias Smith of Hufflepuff.

Keiko greeted them and then introduced the other exchange students in Ravenclaw, and pointed out her older brother, Hiroshi, who was in Hufflepuff and also red-haired. She also pointed out a girl at the Gryffindor table and said that she was her best friend Tamiko Nakamura. Tamiko was deep in conversation with the Gryffindor members of Unity.

Su then proceeded to tell Keiko about the group and when the other Ravenclaw members nodded at her questioning look, extended an offer for Keiko to join. She accepted gladly and then for the rest of dinner, told them about the Tokyo School of Magic. By the time dinner was over, Keiko proved to be an extremely nice person and someone that would be a good temporary addition to Unity.

Author's note: The concept of ronin was created by semprini, the gifted author of one of the most fantastic fics I have ever read, _Harry Potter and the Antiquity Link_, and with his permission, borrowed for this fic. All Japanese first names used I got off from behindthename . com, since I don't know that many. I apologize in advance for any mistakes about Japanese culture, since I am not very familiar with it. I am more familiar with Chinese culture, since I am Chinese myself (though I've grown up in the U.S. since I was almost six). The Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles are actually the Ninja Turtles. They were called Hero Turtles in Britain.


	5. Chapter 5

All of the Japanese exchange students in third year ended up joining Unity, which consisted of Keiko, Tamiko, twins Chikako (Chika for short) and Taiki Shintaro (Tao for short), Yoshiro Fujiwara, and Arata Hirano. They were very friendly and extremely polite, though after the first two weeks, they stopped apologizing so much and were making an effort to act more like the average British thirteen-year old witch or wizard. As members, they were let in on all of Unity's secrets, except for the one where James was really Harry Potter. They were also exempt from contributing to Dobby's wages, since they would only be around for the school year unless the exchange program continued and they chose to return next year, and anyway, it was too difficult to evenly divide fifty-two weeks of wages between fifty-eight people.

Unity learned quite a bit about Japanese wizarding culture, plus some things about the Muggle culture, as Tamiko and Arata turned out to be Muggleborn. Muggles in Japan were a little more laid-back compared to the witches and wizards, and some facets of the Western world had entered the culture, including some English words. While things like loyalty, family piety, and respect for elders were still stressed, among the younger generation, it wasn't quite as strictly followed as in the wizarding world. That was to be expected, after all, for most wizarding societies tended to be more entrenched in the past that the Muggle societies. There were exceptions, such as in the United States, where the wizarding world was practically integrated with the Muggle world, other than the fact that magic was hidden from Muggles besides the President, Vice President, and the relatives of Muggleborn witches and wizards.

Chika and Tai turned out to have a special bond that was different from the ones Padma and Parvati and George and Fred had with each other. Fred and George often knew what the other was thinking and so could finish each other's sentences, while Padma and Parvati could tell if the other was hurt or injured in any way. Chika and Taiko, however, could speak to each other in their minds, so long as they were less than about two hundred kilometers apart, and could do spells together. That is, if they did the same spell, it would combine together and become stronger than their individual spells, with the power being squared.

On Halloween was the first Hogsmeade visit. As the students had to pass the Dementors outside the gate, James heard his mother pleading for her son's life while Voldemort demanded that she move aside. "Mum!" he shouted before blackness enveloped him.

The next he knew, he was some distance away from the gate, with the concerned Ravenclaw and Japanese members of Unity, plus Stella around him. Padma handed him a chocolate frog, while Tamiko said, "You fainted, James. Why does your country still have Dementors, anyway? Japan stopped using them a century ago."

Anthony shrugged. "I guess it's convienent for the Ministry. Are you okay, James?"

"I've been better," said James, biting the head off the chocolate frog.

"Why were you shouting for your mother?" asked Yoshiro. "If I remember correctly, you said your parents died when you were one-year old and so shouldn't remember them."

"Er, I guess I do have a memory or two buried deep within me, and when I'm around the Dementors, they're brought forward," answered James.

Tai frowned. "Then the memories you have would have to be of your mother's death. That's the only plausible explanation. And considering the time period in Britain, it is likely that it was the Dark wizard or one of his followers that was responsible." He glanced at Stella. "Since your sister did not have the same reaction you did with the Dementors, then she either did not witness such an event, or there is something funny going on. Keiko, you are part kitsune." He then asked her something in Japanese.

Keiko frowned, then turned to James. "Could you please tell me how your mother died, James? That way I can help you deal with the effects of the Dementor."

Rather than tell the truth, which could lead to his secret being found out, he instead lied and said, "A Death Eater killed her. A follower of Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Voldemort."

Keiko sighed. "Please tell me the truth, James. A kitsune, or anyone with more than a quarter of kitsune blood, can tell when somone is lying to them."

"All right, it was Voldemort," snapped James.

Tai raised a brow. "I see." Chika opened her mouth, but a look (and maybe a silent word) silenced her. Her twin turned back to James. "We will have a talk about this later, James."

James nodded, but silently he prayed that Tai, nor the other Japanese members of Unity, had not figured out his secret, or at least suspected something along those lines. However, none of them gave any sign of it, so he managed to relax and enjoy the Hogsmeade visit, buying a large bag of sweets from Hineydukes, a couple of prank items at Zonko's Joke Shop, and having butterbeer and a sandwich at the Three Broomsticks.

After they had returned to the castle, the six Japanese students took Harry to the Room of Requirement, after requesting that the rest of Unity stay away for the next hour. Once inside, Arata said, "James, we are not stupid. In Japan, we learn about evil witches and wizards that other countries have. That is so we can prevent one from getting power in Japan. Everyone in Japan that has magic and is over the age of ten know about Vol-die-mort. We know how he was-" He looked questioningly at his friend Yoshiro, who spoke better English.

"How he was defeated by a baby named Harry Potter," finished Yoshiro.

"Are you trying to say that you think I'm really Harry Potter?" demanded James, doing his best to hide his panic. Remembering that Keiko could tell if someone was lying, he stopped himself from protesting that he wasn't, and instead said, "What gave you that idea? Don't you think it's ludicrious?"

"What does lud- that word you said mean?" asked Arata, looking puzzled.

"Ludicrious means silly or ridiculous," responded James.

"The idea is not silly," said Chika firmly. "If your mother was killed by this Voldemort, then he would have then gone on to kill you. Since you are alive, the only answer is that you are Harry Potter, the only person to survive the Killing Curse."

"I suppose you do not want to be famous," said Keiko. "That explains your disguise. And since you are pretending to be the brother of Stuart and Stella, they must know the truth."

James gave up and explained everything, about how he had been left at an orphanage without any name, so one had to be made up, and as the director couldn't think of a good last name, Stuart and Stella offered to let theirs be used. Then when they went to Hogwarts, they found out about Harry Potter and figured that James was really him, and after telling him and Mari, he had decided to not reveal himself. He finished with telling them that the rest of Unity, the Weasley twins, Sirius, Remus, and Dobby knew the truth, but didn't mention that Minister Kishi had also figured things out and told her closest and most trusted advisor, who was sworn to secrecy.

Tamiko looked at the others. "I cannot speak for my friends, but I promise to not tell about your secret, James Lydell."

The other five nodded in agreement. "We will not say anything, either," said Yoshiro. With that, all six of them swore oaths not to reveal James's real identity. Since he knew quite a bit about Japanese wizarding culture by now, he knew that they were sincere and would not break their word. He couldn't help but feel a little foolish at his worry. They had shown after all that they were trustworthy ever since they joined Unity, so their knowing his secret wasn't that big a deal.

Then the six insisted on signing the hexed parchment that the other members of Unity had signed about not revealing James's secret, and when they finished, the group left the Room of Requirement. James notified the other Unity members about the confrontation via their notebooks.

Author's Note: I hope that nobody minds that the Japanese members of Unity found out about James really being Harry Potter. I wasn't planning any such thing at first, but somehow it just happened. Like Arata said, they're not stupid, and I guess eventually they would have figured things out if they hadn't in this chapter. I promise that nobody else will find out about James's real identity until after Voldemort regains his body.


	6. Chapter 6

In the beginning of November, there was a supposed sighting of Wormtail by a Muggle, but by the time she had called the hotline to report it, he had vanished. The first Quidditch match of the year started, between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The weather was not very cooperative, being quite stormy. All the spectators that turned out had umbrellas and several had also done the _Impervius_ spell to repel the rain.

After about an hour, Dementors turned up. It appeared the excited emotions during the match had attracted them. This time, James heard his father shouting for Lily to take Harry and run while he held off Voldemort before he fainted. When he came to, Gryffindor had won the match as Malfoy had been too shaken up by the Dementors to catch the Snitch, and Terry reported that a furious Dumbledore had driven off the Dementors with his Patronus, though none of the Unity members had been able to figure out what it was exactly, due to all the rain. The two seekers had been going after the Snitch when the Dementors turned up, and Malfoy had been affected enough by them to miss catching the Snitch. As a result, Gryffindor had won the match, though the Slytherin team was currently demanding a rematch because of the Dementors.

In the end, there was no rematch, for Madam Hooch, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and even Snape agreed that just because the Dementors appeared, there was no valid reason for a rematch. If Slytherin had called a time out, and then Gryffindor caught the Snitch, there would be reason for one, but otherwise there was none.

The next weekend was the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff match. No Dementors turned up for that one, thank Merlin, since James suspected that if they did, he would have definitely fainted and then fallen off his broom. That would result in his being sent to the hospital wing, and as it was against the rules for an injured player to be substituted, Hufflepuff would win the match unless Ravenclaw managed to get more than one hundred fifty points ahead. Yes, Unity was practicing the Patronus Charm, but so far, none of them could produce more than silver vapour, though James thought that his and Hermione's were starting to form a shape, but not enough for them to figure out what the Patronuses could be.

In any case, James caught the Snitch thirty-four minutes into the game, and Stuart gave him a thumbs-up before flying over with the rest of the team to compliment him. Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff seeker and captain, also flew over to congratulate James and tell Stuart that it had been a good game. Clearly he was a good sport and embodied the Hufflepuff's trait of fair play.

November passed into December, and nothing of note happened, other than Hermione's Patronus forming something that looked like an otter or a misshappen beaver, and Luna producing what was either a rabbit or hare Patronus. Mari produced a Patronus that everyone thought was a horse at first, until Susan spotted the horn and realized was a unicorn instead. Kyle also produced a corporeal Patronus, and it was a butterfly. The rest of Unity stared at him when it appeared, for butterflies weren't something you'd associate with guys. He turned scarlet and muttered something about Mari liking them. Everyone then turned to look at Mari, who also turned crimson and said, "Well, I did tell James and Kyle that butterflies were my favorite animal when they asked me when I was six! That doesn't mean we like each other as more than friends or something!"

James's Patronus was something with four legs, but other than that, nobody could really tell what it was. Ron and Seamus also had vague shapes with four legs, but theirs weren't quite as vague as James, since the shape was enough to identify as possibly being canine. Keiko, being half kitsune, wasn't surprised to discover that her Patronus was a fox. Chika and Tai, who had a mischievous streak like the Weasley twins, produced what everyone thought were large ferrets at first. However, after doing the Patronus Charm several more times, Hermione identified them as being jarveys instead. The last person to produce a Patronus was Tami, which was definitely feline, though nobody could tell if it was a cat or a kneazle. Everyone else still could only produce silver vapour, though the Patil twins, Ginny, Bianca, Wei-Jing, Walter, and Blaise each had something that was starting to take very vague shapes.

The Saturday before the Christmas holidays was another Hogsmeade visit. Unity pooled their money again in order to buy presents for each member. They also bought a few pairs of socks, a couple of outfits (later shrunk), and a wool hat and scarf for Dobby.

Almost everyone went home for the holidays. When James discovered that the full moon was on the night of Christmas Eve and as a result, Remus nor Bianca wouldn't feel well enough to celebrate on Christmas, he raged for a bit at the unfairness of things. Christmas was his favorite holiday, and his 'god-wolf' and one of his friends shouldn't miss out on it. James sighed and made a note to work harder on Potions so that he could someday try to find a cure for lycanthropy.

He completely forgot about it when Christmas morning came and he was unwrapping his presents. Sirius had given him a Firebolt, which was the fastest and newest broom out on the market. "Oh wow!" exclaimed James, staring in awe at the magnificent broom. He then jumped up and gave his godfather a big hug. "Thanks for the awesome present, Uncle Padfoot!"

"You deserve it," said Sirius, ruffling his godson's hair. "You're my favorite godson, and I always planned to get you a really big and expensive gift to make up for the ten years of birthday and Christmas presents that I missed out on."

"I'm your only godson, Uncle Sirius," said James with a laugh. He then finished unwrapping the rest of his presents, which were great, though nowhere as expensive as the Firebolt, and then went upstairs to give Remus his presents.

By noon, Remus felt well enough to join the others for Christmas dinner, though he still looked rather weak and drawn, and only had enough energy to clean his plate and have a few bites of flaming plum pudding and Christmas cake. When dinner was over, Sirius used _Moblicorpus_ to take Remus to living room and settled him down on a sofa so that he could rest and recover, but still be able to see what was going on and passively participate.

When the holidays ended, everyone headed back to Hogwarts.

Author's Note: Sorry about this chapter, which I'm sure isn't that great, and is also a bit on the short side. I had writer's block, which is why I haven't updated for the past few weeks, and this is the best I could do since I wanted to have a chapter out. I promise my future chapters will be better.

My cousin has suggested that I write a fic in which the trio discover fanfiction. I have decided that it is a great idea, and intend to write a fic with that premise once I find some time to do so. If anyone is willing to have snippets of their fics appear in mine when the trio read parts of various fics out loud, please leave their permission in a review or PM me. Fics that have Harry/Draco, Ginny/Draco, Hermione/Draco, Hermione/Snape, or other pairings that aren't in canon would be appreciated, since I would have a good time with the trio's reactions to them. I also would like having fics in which Harry is either a girl or brought up by someone other than the Dursleys. I may eventually also have the trio sit down and read an entire fic or fic series, with comments on it, and if anyone wants their fic to be the one read, please let me know.


	7. Chapter 7

The holidays ended and everyone returned to Hogwarts, including the exchange students in Unity, who had been invited to spend the holidays with either Ry's family or another member of Unity, and so didn't have to stay at the school. James went to Professor Snape after Potions class and asked for extra lessons in Potions.

"You want extra Potions lessons, Mr. Lydell?" asked Snape in surprise. "But why?"

"Because I want to one day create a potion that might cure those with lycanthropy," answered James. "And I also like Potions, and I might want to pursue a career involving it, like my mum might have if she had survived. She had almost completed her mastery in it before her death and would have become a Potions Mistress."

"You're thinking about becoming a Potions Master like your mother might have been?" asked Snape, looking shocked.

"Yes, Professor Snape," replied James. "Or becoming a Auror, which also requires you to known Potions. But what I really want is to see if a potion can be made to cure lycanthropy. After all, if the Wolfsbane Potion was created that can make the transformations easier for werewolves, then it's possible to create a potion to cure them."

"All right, then, Mr. Lydell," said Snape. "You may spend one evening a week brewing Potions under my tuteledge. I expect you to do your best. If you should slack off or otherwise show to me that you are not serious about this, such lessons will end immediately and the only potion-brewing you will do will be during class."

"Thank you, Professor Snape!" James exclaimed. After that, he spent every Wednesday evening in the Potions classroom, where he assisted Snape in brewing various potions, or learning to brew them himself. Outside of class, Snape didn't have that scary and extremely strict persona, though he still was a demanding instructor with exacting standards. James was filled with information about potion-brewing, and sometimes, when they just had to wait while a potion was simmering or they were preparing ingredients, Snape told him things about Lily Potter.

The Patronus lessons resumed, and finally they were able to sort out Seamus's Patronus as definitely being a fox, Ron's as a dog, probably a Jack Russell Terrier, Hermione's as definitely an otter, Luna's as a hare, and Tami's as a kneazle. Bianca and Wen-Jing also managed to get their Patronuses from a vague form to a corporeal form, that of a wolf and a tiger respectively. A weird thing happened with James' Patronus, for when he finally managed it properly, it formed not one, but two shapes, that of a butterfly and of a badger.

"How did that happen?" asked James when he had recovered from his shock, which was the same time as his Patronus, or perhaps Patronuses, faded.

"I suppose because you have two things that equally could be your Patronus," said Mari logically. "About two centuries ago, there was a witch that also had two Patronuses, because she loved her two siblings equally and they were the most important things in her life. She had a unicorn to represent her sister and a bear to represent her brother."

"Oh," said James faintly. He thought over the matter for a moment, then said, "I guess I have two people in my life that are equally the most important people to me. But who?"

The others frowned in thought, then Luna said quite calmly, "They would be Mariko Kishi and Kyle Melling-Carter, of course."

"What?!" exclaimed Colin. "How do you figure that?"

Before Luna could reply, Bianca spoke. "Kyle's Patronus is that of a butterfly, and he said that Mari liked butterflies, which means that she is very important to him. Since James also produced a butterfly, that would mean it too represents Mari. I don't know about the badger, but if one Patronus represents one of James's two best friends, it's logical that the other should represent his other best friend."

"Well, Kyle is in Hufflepuff, whose symbol is a badger," said Terry. "And since there really isn't any other animal or creature that would best define him, I guess that's why it's a badger."

"But why didn't my Patronuses represent my siblings or Sirius?" asked James. "I've known the twins longer than Kyle and Mari, and they and Sirius are really important in my life. "

"James, if you had to go on some dangerous quest and could only take two people with you, would you pick Stella and Stuart or Mari and Kyle?" asked Hermione seriously.

"Mari and Kyle," responded James. When Hermione asked him his reasons, he continued, "They know me the best, even better than Stuart and Stella, and while I've kept secrets from my siblings, I've never kept one from my best friends, except for trivial things like what I'm getting them for Christmas and so forth. Oh, and I did keep a secret about the wizarding world and that I'm really Harry Potter from Kyle, but it was only because I had to be sure that he was a wizard first, and once I was sure, I did tell him everything.

"And if I did go on a dangerous quest, Stella would try to talk me out of it, and both twins would insist on handling things themselves and try to protect me. Kyle and Mari wouldn't, because they'd know and understand why I had to go, and while they would stick by my side and help me, they wouldn't be overprotective or anything like that. Actually, I would be the one trying to talk them out of going with me, but they'd insist on coming along anyway."

"That proves that Mari and Kyle are the most important people in your life, even more so than your adoptive siblings," said Blaise. "And even more than Sirius, because you've only known him since the middle of first year and not most of your life like with your friends."

James looked at his two best friends, knowing that Blaise was right. Of course, he knew that the rest of Unity would also stick by him, but he hadn't known them as long, and out of the seventy or so people that he knew really well and considered important in his life, Kyle and Mari were at the top of the list. That then made him think about the rest of the list, which he sorted out to be Stella and Stuart as being second, Remus and Sirius as being third, the members of Unity in his year as all being fourth, the ones in the year below as fifth, the Japanese members as sixth, and the Weasley twins and Dobby as being seventh, and Professor Snape as eighth and last.

In February, Quidditch practices resumed, and the rest of the Ravenclaw team were delighted that James had a Firebolt. That brought their team a definite advantage, since the other Seekers only had Nimbus Two Thousand Ones, and other than for Malfoy, the brooms technically didn't belong to them, but rather to the house teams. Stuart was even more confident that Ravenclaw would win the Quidditch Cup for the third year in a year, and the rest of the team played their very best during practices.

In March was the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Thanks to the Firebolt and James's Seeker skills, Ravenclaw won, three hundred twenty points to seventy, though Slytherin made several attempts at cheating, which only resulted in Madam Hooch calling fouls against them. After the match, there was a celebratory party in the common room.

Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had their match the following Saturday. Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric Diggory caught the Snitch, but since the Gryffindors had managed to score sixteen more goals than Hufflepuff, Gryffindor narrowly won by ten points. After that match, Stuart took James aside. "James, you do realize that this year is Oliver Wood's last chance to win the Quidditch Cup, right? Since he's really into Quidditch (_That's an understatement_, thought James), I kind of feel sorry for him and wouldn't mind if Gryffindor won the Cup this year. So if you would use the Nimbus and not the Firebolt in the final match with Gryffindor and tone down your skills slightly, that would put them on an equal footing with us to win the match."

James stared at his adoptive brother. "Er, okay, I'll do it, Stuart. The Gryffindor members of Unity would love it if their house won the Quidditch Cup this year."

"Just don't let the Gryffindor Seeker catch the Snitch without you doing anything," said Stuart. "The Gryffindors wouldn't want to win because you purposely threw the match. Even if they aren't known for a sense of fair play like Hufflepuffs, they are known for their nobleness."

James nodded and then headed for the castle. As he walked, the made a note to himself to only use his Firebolt for practices and in matches against Slytherin from that point. When playing against Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, he would only use the Nimbus, so that both teams would be on a equal footing broom-wise. Slytherin he didn't care about, since Malfoy was the most horrible person he knew that was his age, and the Slytherin members of Unity cared more about the group than about their house.

Author's note: I am going to stop here, even though the ending paragraph isn't much of an ending. However, I can't think of any other way to end it without going further, and that would result in my finishing out the year. Since I really don't want to end this fic just yet with so few chapters, I'm stopping here. I apologize for taking so long to update. For those living in the US, I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.


	8. Chapter 8

Mari was the next person to produce a corporeal Patronus, and like James, produced two of them. One was a badger, while the other was a deer. After closer examination, the deer turned out to be a doe, but it antlers like a stag. That was extremely odd, for does did not have antlers, other than the legends of Sidhe-deer. This puzzled everyone, except for Luna and Mari. When the rest of Unity looked to them for an explanation, Luna said, "I think they represent Mari's two best friends, like James's Patronuses did for him."

"So the badger would have to represent Kyle," said Ron slowly. "But how could the doe with antlers represent James?"

"I think it represents how I'm my parents' son," answered James after a moment of thought. "My dad's Animagus form was a stag, and Uncle Remus said that my mum's Patronus was a doe. Well, in my real appearance, I have most of my dad's looks, and I inherited his Quidditch talent. With my mum, I have her eyes and inherited some of her talent in Potions. And like both of them, I'm loyal to my friends and would do just about anything for them. Oh, and I'm mostly easy-going like Dad, but if I do get really mad, then my temper is more like Mum's."

"That explains it," said Kyle. "Hang on, let me try something. _Expecto Patronum_!" Something silvery shot out of his wand, and to everyone's surprise but his, it formed two shapes.

"But I thought you only had one!" exclaimed Bianca, staring at the butterfly and the doe with antlers.

"Patronuses can change," said Kyle. "I remember reading that. So why can't mine change to two? Mari and James are the two most important people in my life that I'm closest to, and if their Patronuses reflect the people that they're closest to, then why shouldn't mine?"

"That makes sense," said Anthony after a moment of silence. After another pause, Unity resumed practicing the Patronus Charm.

The final Quidditch match of the year, between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, commenced. James flew the Nimbus instead of his Firebolt like he said, and spent the entire match flying around looking for the Snitch and avoiding the Bludgers. Oliver Wood was in top form and blocked most of Ravenclaw's attempts at the goalposts, with only two getting past him. Ravenclaw, on the other hand, didn't do as well, and Gryffindor was able to score six times. After about half an hour, James spotted the Snitch, and to make things fair, managed to get the Gryffindor Seeker's attention. She looked at him, puzzled, and saw him turn his broom around towards the Snitch. She immediately went on a dive after him. Since she happened to be slightly closer to it, she caught it, thereby ending the match and winning the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor.

There was a stunned silence, than a jubilant Lee Jordan shouted the results, while all the Gryffindors, most of the Hufflepuffs, and the Ravenclaw and Slytherins members of Unity started cheering like mad. Professor McGonagall actually burst into tears of joy and had to wipe her eyes with a Gryffindor banner. Percy Weasley was jumping up and down like a maniac, all dignity forgotten. Wood was sobbing even harder than McGonagall as he landed on the ground and enveloped the Seeker in a hug. The rest of the team converged on them, and after a few minutes of celebration together, they turned to the Dumbledore, who presented them with the Quidditch Cup.

Ravenclaw then joined in the cheering, since they didn't really mind losing the Quidditch Cup so long as Slytherin didn't win it. After everything died down, the Gryffindors went to have their victory party.

Gryffindors' euphoria at winning the match and Cup lasted for a week. After that, students had to concentrate on revising for the exams, with little time to enjoy the wonderful weather or anything else. The stress of doing so many classes at once seemed to have gotten to Hermione. Though she had gotten so disgusted with Divination that she finally quit just before the Easter holidays, she was still taking more classes than everyone else and spent all her spare time revising. The rest of Unity temporarily stopped Patronus practice so they could concentrate on studying. Even Fred and George were spotted revising, since it was OWL year for them.

Exam week began and an unnatural hush fell over the castle. The third-years emerged from Transfiguration at lunchtime on Monday limp and ashen-faced, comparing results and bemoaning the difficulty of the tasks they had been set, which had included turning a teapot into a tortoise. Hermione irritated the rest (except Mari, who had done perfectly) by fussing about how her tortoise had looked more like a turtle, which was the least of everyone else's worries.

"Mine still had a spout for a tail, what a nightmare..."

"Were the tortoises supposed to breathe steam?"

"It still had a willow-patterned shell, d'you think that'll count against me?"

Then, after a hasty lunch, it was straight back upstairs for the Charms exam. Professor Flitwick tested them on Cheering Charms during the practical portion. James slightly overdid his out of nerves and Terry, who was partnering him, ended up in fits of hysterical laughter and had to be led away to a quiet room for an hour before he was ready to perform the Charm himself. After the exam, James apologized to Terry, who merely said, "That's all right. At least you showed that you were able to do the Cheering Charm, even if it was a bit strong."

After dinner, the third-year Unity members hurried to the Room of Requirement, not to relax, but to start revising for Care of Magical Creatures, Potions and Astronomy.

Hagrid presided over the Care of Magical Creatures exam the following morning. He had provided a large tub of Flobberworms for the class, and told them that, to pass the test, their Flobberworm had to still be alive at the end of one hour. As Flobberworms flourished best if left to their own devices, it was the easiest exam any of them had ever sat, and James spent the hour mentally going over different runes in his head in preparation for the Ancient Runes exam he would be taking later. That was followed in the afternoon by the Potions exam, which involved brewing a Confusing Concoction for the practical. Thanks to the extra work James had been doing in Potions, he felt sure that he did excellently, which was confirmed by the slightly approving nod Snape gave when he walked by inspecting the work.

Then came Astronomy at midnight, up on the tallest tower; History of Magic on Wednesday morning, in which James scribbled everything Remus had ever told him about medieval witch hunts when helping with his summer homework, while wishing he could have had a glass of cold lemonade or an ice cream sundae with him in the stifling classroom

Wednesday afternoon meant Herbology, in the greenhouses under a baking hot sun. Neville was the only one that truly enjoyed the exam, for it was his best and favorite subject, and while Mari and Hermione were his equals when it came to the theory, nobody in third-year could out-perform him when it came to the practical part of actually caring for the plants. James sighed as he worked and wished that he had Neville's talent and that Herbology wasn't his third least-favorite subject.

Their second from last exam, on Thursday morning, was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam any of them had ever taken; a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh, ignoring the misleading directions from a Hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new Boggart.

"Excellent, James," Lupin muttered, as James climbed out of the trunk, grinning. "Full marks."

Flushed with success, James hung around to see how the others that were after him were doing. Neville, Susan, Padma, Kyle, and a couple of others got full marks as well. Ron did very well until he reached the Hinkypunk, which successfully confused him into sinking waist-high into the quagmire. Hermione did everything perfectly until she reached the trunk with the Boggart in it. After about a minute inside it, she burst out again, screaming.

"Hermione!" exclaimed Lupin, startled. "What's the matter?"

"P-P-Professor McGonagall!" Hermione gasped, pointing to the trunk. "Sh-she said I'd failed everything!"

Kyle gave her a disbelieving look, while Daphne (who hadn't done so well with one of the Red Caps) took Hermione aside and managed to calm her down after awhile. Ron looked as if he wanted to laugh, but didn't after Susan gave him a disapproving look and Kyle pointed out, "You know, Hermione might have a different fear, but didn't want to say what it really was and so made up the fear of McGonagall telling her that she failed everything." He would have said more, except a scream interrupted him.

All the members of Unity that were done with the exam turned to see Mari bursting out of the trunk, tears streaming down her face. "Y-You guys w-w-were dead! And V-Voldemort was s-s-saying that he'd k-k-kill the r-rest of Unity if I d-didn't do his bidding. I t-tried to fight it, b-but it just changed t-t-to him starting to k-kill everyone!" She collapsed in Kyle's arms and started sobbing uncontrollably on his shoulder, and reached out a hand and grabbed James's arm.

Kyle awkwardly patted her on the back, while James moved closer. He remembered that Mari's boggart had been her friends dying back in Lupin's first class, and it had now apparently changed slightly to include Voldemort in the picture. He waved the rest of Unity aside since he had a feeling that only he and Kyle would be able to comfort Mari at the moment. The trio moved to a deserted area by the lake and sat down, Mari sitting between the boys, clutching their hands and still crying, but no longer on Kyle's shoulder.

James looked helplessly at Kyle, since he had absolutely no idea how to comfort Mari in this state. She had cried back when she had first come to the orphanage and was still grieving for her parents, and the first time she saw her boggart, but they were nothing like this, and she really wasn't the crying sort. She had always struck James as an intelligent and determined person who was a great friend and had never seemed to be afraid of anything, unlike some of the other girls at the orphanage.

After what seemed like an hours, but was really only about twenty minutes, Mari had cried herself out. She dug a handkerchief out of her pocket, wiped her eyes, and then straightened determinedly, looking more like her usual self. "Thank you, James and Kyle, for staying by my side, and not saying anything. I really don't think there was anything you could have said to comfort me that didn't sound pathetic. As long as you two are by my side and I know that I can count on you guys just as you can count on me is enough." She leaned over and gave James a quick kiss on the cheek, then turned to Kyle to apparently do the same. However, she ended up kissing him on the lips, either by accident or on purpose.

He looked startled as Mari pulled away, a slight blush on her face. James hid a smile, since it had been obvious to him that Kyle had a crush on Mari not long after they had become friends. The Halloween when they were seven, Mari had decided to dress up as a princess. Kyle, who had originally decided to dress up as one of the Hero Turtles with James, had changed his mind when Mari announced her choice and decided to be her knight in shining armor instead. He had also picked wildflowers and presented them to her several times. Mari had always been receptive of such things, though she had also made it clear that she could handle things herself and didn't need Kyle (or any other boy for that matter) to protect her. Her feelings for him had otherwise not been clear, but she obviously didn't mind the crush, and it looked like that now she was returning it.

James got up. "I'm going to study for my Arithmancy exam now, if you're feeling better, Mari. I'll leave the two of you to talk privately." Mari nodded, while Kyle flushed.

The next morning, James took his Arithmancy exam, which he felt went rather well. Then he went to find the rest of Unity. Neville had a rather shocked look on his face, and quickly related what had happened to him during his Divination exam. Professor Trelawney had called the students in one by one and asked them to gaze into a crystal ball. Neville had made up something, since he couldn't see anything in the ball other than a lot of fog. When he was leaving, however, Professor Trelawney had frozen and went into a trance, a genuine one and not the fake ones she sometimes went into in order to try to impress people. She then proceeded, in a harsh voice that wasn't her usual one, to make what seemed to be a real prophecy, about how the servant of the Dark Lord would finally return to his master and aid him. Trelawney didn't have any recollection of making a prophecy when she came out of the trance, and that made Neville inclined to believe that it was real, especially as he had read that many Seers had no memory of what they said when they made prophecies.

Once Hermione got over her skepticism, Unity went over the prophecy, figuring out that it most likely meant that Peter Pettigrew was going to find Tom Riddle and try to return him to power. Since they could do nothing to prevent it at the moment, they had to accept it, but vowed that if Voldemort returned to power, they would fight against him. James opened his mouth to try to argue his friends out of doing it, but took one look at them and gave up without saying a word. They clearly would not let him fight Riddle alone, though he suspected that the final showdown could only involve the two of them. James sighed and looked around at Unity again. He noticed that Mari and Kyle were holding hands and wondered what had been said after he'd left them yesterday afternoon.

After a few minutes, they saw him looking over at them, and took him aside to whisper, "We've decided that we mutually like each other as more than just friends." Mari added, "I know Kyle's had a crush on me for the longest time. It just took me awhile to realize that I felt the same way."

"We're going to go out on a few dates and figure things out from there," said Kyle. "Since we are only fourteen, we're taking things slow for now. And please don't tell anyone, James."

"We'll let the rest of Unity know when we're ready," continued Mari. "You're different, since you're our best friend and all."

"I understand," said James with a smile. "I figured that the two of you might end up together." The three then rejoined the discussion on the prophecy before someone could wonder what they were up to. James didn't pay complete attention, however, as he wondered when he'd start dating. He had noticed girls already, after all, and was aware that several of the girls in Unity were pretty. Actually, all the girls in Unity weren't bad-looking, though some, like Millicent Bulstrode, wouldn't exactly be called pretty unless they got dressed up. He sighed, since he knew that he didn't have the courage to ask any girl out at the moment, even one who was friend. Well, he would have the courage to ask out Mari, but even if she wasn't taken, he certainly didn't like her in that way. He loved her like a sister, so asking her out would be like asking Stella out. Theo Nott got his attention with a question at this point, so James stopped that line of thought and focused his complete attention back on the subject at hand.

Author's Note: A change is made with Kyle's Patronus in this chapter, because I realized that if James and Mari were going to have two Patronuses, then Kyle should to. Since something has to represent James, and as in this fic is equally like his mother and father, I decided to have something with both. The doe with antlers is taken from the book _The Wizard of London_in the Elemental Master series, written by Mercedes Lackey. In it, best friends Sarah and Nan once come across a doe with antlers at night, and are told by Puck/Robin Goodfellow that it is a Sidhe deer.


	9. Chapter 9

There was one more sighting of Wormtail, this one in Germany. Since he was clearly no longer in Britain, the Ministry decided to remove all Dementors from Hogwarts, especially as they were starting to get out of hand when during the last Hogsmeade visit of the year, they had gathered around Unity. If it weren't for the Patronuses that several members had summoned, a Dementor might have actually attempted to Kiss someone. One of the Japanese teachers, who had witnessed it, sent a politely worded note to Dumbledore that perhaps it wasn't wise to have such dangerous beings around a school of children, who in turn notified Fudge.

Due to a new law passed against werewolves that made it practically impossible for them to find employment, Remus had to resign as the Defense teacher. The main reason he got the post in the first place without any interference from the Ministry was because of Pettigrew's escape. Unity was not happy with this, but they could do nothing about it until they were adults and got employed at the Ministry.

The school term ended and grades were handed out. James was pleased to find that he had placed sixth in his year, and in Potions had actually tied for the top grade with Mari and Hermione. The others had done well also. The Japanese exchange students left, but the ones in Unity said that they'd return next year, as the exchange program was continuing and they had enjoyed their year at Hogwarts. Actually, Unity would see most of them before the school year started, since the Quidditch World Cup was being held this year, in Britain, and their families were planning on attending.

Unity spent the train ride to London relaxing and playing Exploding Snap, chess, and Gobstones. They had decided not to worry about anything that was currently out of their hands and instead to just focus on enjoying themselves for the time being.

In the late afternoon, the Hogwarts Express arrived at King's Cross Station. Everyone got off the train, met up with their families, and returned home. James bid good-bye to his friends and followed Stuart, Stella, and Sirius out of the station, thinking about the wonderful summer he would have and wondering what his fourth year at Hogwarts would turn out to be like.

Author's Note: I apologize for this very short chapter. I just wanted to wrap up the year so I could start the fourth fic in the series, entitled "Unity and the Goblet of Fire". I plan to have the first chapter up later this day.


End file.
